Author Archives: JMN

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.

The Dolmen Tells the Wind, ‘Hard Weather Ahead’

Posted on September 17, 2022 by JMN

A megalithic archaeological site has been exposed by drought in Spain. Some 2,000 years older than Stonehenge, the Bronze Age sepulcher was deliberately flooded in 1963 as part of a rural development project. Like the skeleton of an extinct sea … Continue reading →

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Wipe It Off, Gray Lady

Posted on September 13, 2022 by JMN

Free expression isn’t just a feature of democracy; it is a necessary prerequisite. (Editorial Board, “Censorship Is the Refuge of the Weak,” New York Times, 9-10-22) No big deal. Just a nicety of style, a peccadillo none but the persnickety … Continue reading →

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Tohu Bohu in the Land of Steak Frites

Posted on September 12, 2022 by JMN

“We have to change our mentality so that eating a barbecued entrecôte is no longer a symbol of virility… If you want to resolve the climate crisis, you have to reduce meat consumption, and that’s not going to happen so … Continue reading →

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Asked and Answered

Posted on September 10, 2022 by JMN

“The American press is infatuated to the point of intoxication with ‘democracy,’ ” [Buchanan] wrote in 1991. To make his point, he compared the Marine Corps and corporations like IBM to the federal government. “Only the last is run on … Continue reading →

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Chasing Command: The Kicker

Posted on September 9, 2022 by JMN

Statistic: Forty-nine of the 50 highest-scoring players in American football history are kickers. “And the first ball comes off my foot like a rocket, and then the next one and the next,” he says. “I just felt like I had … Continue reading →

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Romancing ‘Gilgamesh’s Snake’

Posted on September 7, 2022 by JMN

The transliterations bracketed below are mine. In them, tā’ marbūṭa is ẗ, and I show the lām of the article as assimilated to a following solar letter. For example: [‘ayyuhā-s-sayyidu] instead of [‘ayyuhā-l-sayyidu]. My character set, contrived to avoid digraphs, … Continue reading →

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Soot, Spit and Paper

Posted on September 5, 2022 by JMN

James Castle (1899 – 1977) was born deaf in rural Idaho, and seems never to have learned to read and write. Formally untrained, he “dedicated his life to making art among the farms and ranches in and near Boise.” His … Continue reading →

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(Not) Learning to Read

Posted on September 4, 2022 by JMN

The most important thing schools can do is teach children how to read. If you can read, you can learn anything. If you can’t, almost everything in school is difficult. Word problems. Test directions. Biology homework. Everything comes back to … Continue reading →

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‘The Reader Effect’

Posted on September 2, 2022 by JMN

… Like a scene from Mr. Rushdie’s novel “Shalimar the Clown,” a knife-wielding man rushed onto the stage and began to stab him. Immediately audience members ran to the stage to defend him. It was a remarkable response. That rush … Continue reading →

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Fixing to Start Something With ‘Gilgamesh’s Snake’

Posted on August 28, 2022 by JMN

Ghareeb Iskander is an Iraqi writer who lives in London. HIs book of poems in Arabic, “Gilgamesh’s Snake and Other Poems,” was published by Syracuse University Press in 2016. The English translations are the work of Scottish poet John Glenday … Continue reading →

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